Destination: Mt. Davidson to Twin Peaks, San Francisco
Summit Mt. Davidson, hike over to Twin Peaks, and possibly around to Sutro Tower. Bonus: Laguna Honda Trails.
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
Lunch and a view on Mt. Davidson by Cody Tolmasoff
Social Isolation — Day 51
Are you interested in more detail on these imaginary day trips? I’m in the process of expanding on each of these journeys and publishing a book of the entire collection. It would include:
12 San Francisco trips
10 Peninsula trips
10 South Bay trips
10 East Bay trips
10 North Bay trips
25 Premium locations (things like the Exploratorium or the Lawrence Hall of Science)
A bonus of my previously published Golden Gate Park Adventures
I’m working on the San Francisco section currently, but it’s a bit undertaking. So I’m looking for some advance readers who might be interested in reading this section to give me some feedback. It would be valuable to have some input before I commit to writing the entire thing.
I think it would be interesting to have this as a book, it might help my kids pick what we are going to do over the weekend, once we are free to get back out there once our shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted.
Destination: Mt. Davidson
Summit Mt. Davidson
Hike over to Twin Peaks
Possibly hike around Sutro Tower
Bonus: Laguna Honda Trails
Summit Mt. Davidson
Summit of Mt. Davidson by Cody Tolmasoff
You’ve probably seen the giant cement cross sitting above the trees on that nondescript mountain in San Francisco. The cross itself has had a storied history, earlier versions having been burned down before this cement cross was erected. There have also been issues involving mixing church and state, in the early 1990s, the city sold the cross and land immediately surrounding it to a non-profit religious organization.
There are a number of trails that cross the mountain, and it can get a bit muddy so keep that in consideration as you dress to hike here today. You should expect to climb roughly 250 feet to get to the summit which stands 927 feet above sea level.
Hike over to Twin Peaks
View from Twin Peaks toward downtown San Francisco by Cody Tolmasoff
Twin Peaks might be your answer if I asked you what is the tallest point in San Francisco, but you’d be about 6 feet short of Mt. Davidson. Twin Peaks offers that iconic view of downtown San Francisco, so it’s worth a trip up here to see it.
This tends to be a popular tourist spot, so there may be crowds when you visit. It also tends to be a hot-spot for car break-ins, which is why I enjoy hiking over here instead.
I’ve been reading that the eastern road is now permanently closed to cars (thanks to efforts from the SF Bike coalition), but I haven’t been able to find a good reference to share.
Hike around Sutro Tower
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
Looking at the maps today, there seems to be a trail you can cut across to the base of Sutro Tower (and on toward Mt. Sutro if you desire). I’m looking forward to exploring it soon.
Following Twin Peaks boulevard down toward the Twin Peaks Reservoir, on the west side seems to be a trail before you reach the reservoir heading toward Sutro Tower. You’ll cross Farview court and Marview way, picking up a trail again on Marview way that will take you around the base of Sutro Tower.
Bonus: Laguna Honda Trails
Laguna Honda Mural by Cody Tolmasoff
In September of 2019, I had the opportunity to attend the trail opening for the recently restored Laguna Honda trails. When the hospital was originally built, they created a series of trails adjacent to the facility for residents to enjoy. These trails were unfortunately not kept up and became overgrown with blackberry bushes and other foliage, recently rediscovered and rehabilitated by the SF Urban Riders. It’s remarkable what improvements they have made so far, and will continue with in the future.
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 3 May 2020